(1) Field of the Invention
The invention of this application (ring mute) relates to brass musical instruments with a brass bell. Particularly, this invention dampens the sound of a brass musical instrument by placing a sound absorbent foam urethane ring onto and around the rim of the bell of a brass musical instrument.
The invention is comprised of a flexible foam urethane ring with an incision 0.25 inches deep extending the entire inner circumference of the invention. The foam ring is held onto the rim of the bell of the brass musical instrument by placing the rim into an incision located in the inner area of the ring.
According to R. Morley-Pegge, The French Horn (London), 1960, p. 139., there is no record of the first use of the mute for horn, or for that matter any other brass instrument. For the horn, the first usage is said to have been well before 1750.
An early example is found in Buxtehunde Cantata, Ihr lieben Christen, freut euch nuin, which calls for two Clarini in Sordini.
According to Yasir Agha of Jazz Review.com, Joe King Oliver having joined Kid Ory's Brownskin Babies in about 1914 or 1915 was known for developing great expressive skills in the use of mutes.
Mutes for brass musical instruments come in various sizes and shapes. Some examples are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,771; U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,679; U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,959; U.S. Pat. No. 1,508,024; U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,764; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,183.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Other typically utilized mutes that attach to the bell of a brass instrument can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,771; U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,679; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,959. Yet none of these mutes use a foam ring that is placed onto and around the rim of the bell of a brass musical instrument for the sole purpose of dampening the sound.
A mute is a device that softens or muffles the sound of an instrument (Hal Leonard Music Dictionary ISBN 0-7935-1654-4). Heretofore, all mutes either soften or muffle an instrument, yet, the ring mute does not fit into the bell or employ metal clips or fasteners to secure the mute onto the bell of the instrument.